Elephants

Vulnerable conservation status

There are many other vulnerable species across Africa whose numbers are declining rapidly as a result of poaching.

One such species is the African elephant, whose populations have been decimated with over 100,000 elephants killed in the past three years alone. Demand for their ivory from China and the Far East has not yet abated and the illegal ivory trade and the role of corruption in facilitating this trade have helped fuel this slaughter.

While Tony Fitzjohn and his team have concentrated on creating sanctuaries for rhinos and African wild dogs, Mkomazi National Park is a protected area for all of the area’s inhabitants. Working in close partnership with Tanzanian National Parks (TANAPA), numerous water holes are constructed, maintained and protected, which encourage elephants to roam within areas where they, too, are protected. One of the significant achievements of the rehabilitation and protection of Mkomazi National Park has been the recovery of the elephant population.

Elephant numbers are now back up to the hundreds but there is still a long way to go to protect the park and thereby continue to increase elephant numbers.

Elephants are the largest land mammals in the world. They need a large home range, shifting areas with changes in seasons and as food or water resources are exhausted.

Elephants roam freely over large swathes of land and are therefore coming into increased conflict with the economic interests of humans who clear forest areas for farmland, or engage in logging and mining in ways that degrade the environment. As roads and settlements encroach deeper into the forest, elephants are losing the vast expanses of land they need to survive. Driven from their traditional range, elephants are forced into areas where they are neither monitored nor protected.

Given the economic value of their tusks, they become a high priority for poachers.